Forgive and Forget
by GeorgeWeasleyIsMYObsession
Summary: Jennifer Daniels took moving to London as a fresh start. She had never expected to run into a handsome jokester who is the complete opposite of the man she's trying to hide from. But she was always told that you can't run from your past...and her past is quickly catching up with her. Can she confide her secrets before its too late? Or will she let the past destroy her?
1. Prologue

**So I probably shouldn't be doing this at all because I already have an ongoing story, but this idea has been bothering me for awhile now. I'm not promising how often I'll be able to update this because my George/OC story takes precedence, but I can promise that this story WILL be finished. If I can, I will update both stories in the same day so that this one is finished on time. And I highly doubt my best friend will let me fall too far behind so no worries on that front.**

**Anywho, this story is going to be a tad bit sad considering the circumstances, but its also a Weasley twin story, so it shouldn't be too heavy on the angsty stuff. You can only have so much angst where the twins are involved in my opinion. Anyways, enjoy the story!**

**Title: Forgive and Forget by GeprgeWeasleyIsMYObsession**

**Summary: Fred Weasley has become self-conscious since the war and finds himself staying away from most women. This decision is only solidified by their interest in his fame and money...or his relationship with the one and only Harry Potter. Until he meets Jennifer Daniels that is...**

**Jenny took moving to London as a fresh start. She hardly thought that she would end up meeting a handsome jokester, whose brother just so happens to be dating her best friend. Only problem is she can only run from her past for so long before it begins to catch up with her. Will she be able to confide her secrets before its too late?**

**Disclaimer: This will be my only disclaimer for the entirety of he story because they do tend to get rather annoying. I do not own Harry Potter nor am I making a profit from this story. J.K Rowling owns every amazing character(I wouldn't say no to keeping George, however;))**

**Prologue**

-oOo-

She'd read fairytales as a child, the ones where the princess overcame all evil and got her happily ever after with her Prince Charming. She'd always imagined that the same would happen for her. Of course, at that age she'd convinced herself that her Prince would have to slay dragons before she could get over the fact that he more than likely had cooties.

As she'd grown older, her interest in fairytales had quickly morphed into an interest in movies that were commonly referred to as "chick flicks". While far more appropriate and realistic for her age, the gist of the films had been relatively the same as her fairytales; the girl would always find her prince and live happily ever after.

Even then, at the age of sixteen, she'd been susceptible to the idea of love. The fairytales alone had sparked a hope for something that seemed impossible. The chick flicks had only made the desire grow. She'd been determined to find that one guy that would fight to stand by her side, that one guy that would make her blood heat and her heart pound even after years of being together.

The idea had seemed simple and the chick flicks she'd watched had made it look even simpler. She'd quickly learned, however, that love was not as easily accomplished as she'd once assumed.

And then one day, two years ago, she'd finally fallen in love. After years of summer flings, friends with benefits, and an unhealthy amount of flirting, she'd finally fallen in love.

They'd met at a Ministry function in Salem, her and Nathan. If she considered, it wasn't exactly the place she had imagined she would meet the love of her life, but she'd hardly had time to complain when he'd given her a charming smile and offered to walk her back to her hotel. She'd declined, which had only intrigued him more, and he had instead asked her to dinner. She'd accepted that invitation and the next thing she knew they were dating and she was happier than she had ever been.

Now, almost two years later, she admitted to herself that she had put too much stock on her fairytales and chick flicks. Now, she realised how naive she'd always been. Because if there was one thing in all of her twenty four years of living that she regretted, it was accepting that invitation.

Things had started off great, she supposed. He'd spoiled her with extravagant gifts and taken her out to dinner almost every weekend. They'd laughed and teased and stayed up all night to talk about anything and everything and they'd rarely ever fought. And then they'd moved into together and she'd noticed how distant he was becoming. They'd stopped laughing and teasing and they rarely ever spoke unless it was about his job. And then, when she thought nothing could be worse, she'd caught him cheating.

She knew she should have left and found someone else that would make her happy and her best friend had urged her to do just that, claiming she deserved more than he was giving her. And while she knew that was true, she'd loved him more than she'd ever loved anyone else. He'd been her first for almost everything...her first love, her first time...and eventually her first real heartbreak. So she'd foolishly forgiven him and they'd moved on.

As much as they could, anyways. After his infidelity she'd become insecure and suspicious, and those emotions were only amplified when they'd started arguing every night. She hadn't dared to go to Claire for fear of hearing the one thing she didn't have the strength to hear: that he just didn't care anymore. So she'd lied and told her friend that everything was alright and she was happy.

But eventually, the stress and pain of arguing with him had been too much and she'd threatened to leave. She'd never seen the slap coming, had honestly not even known he'd had it in him to hit her. He'd apologised profusely for hurting her and as shocked and hurt as she'd been she had forgiven him.

As bad as she'd thought things had been in their relationship, she had never expected them to get as bad as they were now. The physical abuse had increased until it was the only thing she knew. She didn't know what had gone wrong. She'd done everything she possibly could have to please him; she cooked and cleaned to perfection and did everything he asked of her without second thought, though that was mostly out of fear than an actual desire to please him. She had eventually begun to believe that she deserved every slap, every kick, every punch just as much as he did. Sometimes she blamed herself for even being in this position. If she hadn't given him so many chances, hadn't been so naive, things would never have gotten this bad.

The only thing more painful than her broken heart was ignoring Claire. It had been months since she'd spoken properly with her best friend and the last letter she'd sent her had been so full of lies, it didn't make her feel any less guilty. But she had been too ashamed to say a word to the one person who had stood by her side since they'd met in their 1st year at Salem's Wizarding School. She'd gotten angry every time Claire had spoken ill of Nathan and had completely ignored her advice during the time he'd cheated on her. Through it all Claire had remained steadfastly at her side.

She'd been there through everything and she had thought that keeping her in the dark would be for the best, but then Nathan had become suspicious of the things she was writing her and she'd stopped writing altogether for fear that he would hurt her. Now it was three months since her last _decent_ letter and after all the owls Claire had sent in the past month that had been ignored entirely, she could only imagine how worried she had to be. With all the threats she had received in Claire's letters about coming to get her and forcing her to come to London with her lately, she had begun to hope that her friend would do just that.

Which was why she was sat at her kitchen island, writing a hasty letter to her best friend while Nathan slept in the bedroom. He'd come home drunk again that night, giving her the only chance she would have to ask her friend for help without waking him. She only hoped Claire wasn't too angry with her because she was the only one she had left.

-oOo-

Claire Thomas was worried; It had been months since she had heard from her best friend. _Three_ months to be exact.

It wasn't unheard of for them to go a week or two without word considering they both had jobs and grueling schoolwork to deal with, but they had never gone more than two weeks without speaking.

The first month she had thought her friend was angry with her for the things Claire had said about her current boyfriend. The supposition had been solidified by the few letters she had actually received; they had all been short, clipped, and to the point. But then she'd stopped receiving letters altogether and she knew that no matter how mad, Jenny would never ignore her for more than a week or two. So, she'd convinced herself it was because her friend was busy with schoolwork and her job at a muggle veterinary clinic. But now that they were heading into the third month that Jenny had last spoken with her, she had taken to sending angry letters, threatening to come and kidnap her and drag her to London. She'd assumed that Jenny would answer to those at least because she had never shown any desire to live in London with her, much to Claire's disappointment. But she had not responded to a single one of those either.

Claire had to admit to herself that the excuses she had made for her friend in the past three months had been more for her benefit than anything else. She had only been trying to find ways to push away the worry that was plaguing her.

Something was wrong. She knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that something was wrong. The only problem was, she didn't know _what_ was wrong. She didn't know if it was so bad that she should find a way to get her best friend out of the situation entirely or if she was just upset and stressed and she only needed Claire to provide a shoulder to lean on. And she was more than willing to do both. She just didn't know if it was the right thing to do.

She was so deep in her reverie, she didn't realise when the twins walked into the kitchen, where she was currently making dinner, laughing loudly. She jumped when George wrapped his arms around her waist and placed a kiss on her cheek, and accidentally cut her finger with the knife she was using.

She jerked her hand back and hissed in pain.

"Bloody hell, Claire." George said, sticking her hand under the tap to wash off the blood and then bring it up to his face to study the cut.

Fred tsked, as George removed his wand and sealed the cut before bringing the finger to his mouth and kissing the spot.

"Honestly, Claire Bear, you should pay better attention to your surroundings. Moody would be ashamed," he said with a grin before frowning and looking at the vegetables she had just been cutting in distaste. "I do hope you had the good sense to control your spurting blood and keep it away from my food."

Claire rolled her eyes and vanished the vegetables she had been cutting and grabbed more from the pantry before continuing where she had left off.

"I have the good sense to kick you out of my apartment." she said with a sweet smile.

"Now, love, would you really do such a thing to me?" he said, copying George's pose and leaning against the counter on her opposite side. "I mean lets face it, I am the better looking twin."

"And I'm the smarter twin," George said instantly, his grin the mirror image of his brother's.

Fred waved his hand dismissively, the grin on his face contradicting the action. "Yes, yes, Georgie. We all know you are the more intelligent, but uglier version of me. No need to harp on about it."

Claire raised her eyebrows as she dumped the vegetables into the pot of stew she had cooking on the stove.

"Really?" she said conversationally. "I was always under the impression that the sexiest part of a man was his intelligence. So, really, you got the short end of the stick, Fred. You're the dumber, uglier version of George."

George roared with laughter as Fred stared incredulously at her. Claire grinned at him before moving to give George a hug around the waist.

Breathing in the scent of gunpowder, she relaxed against him and let all the worries about Jenny fade to the back of her mind. There was no use in worrying. She would talk to George tonight and see what she could do to help her friend, but until then she would enjoy the company of her boyfriend and his twin. As if sensing her inner turmoil, George wrapped his arms around her and leaned down to place a soft kiss on her lips.

Fred rolled his eyes and folded his arms across his chest petulantly, waiting for the two of them to snap out of their bubble. When they made no move to pull apart, he cleared his throat and grinned when Claire pulled away and bustled towards the fridge to hide her blush.

"Don't be embarrassed, Claire Bear," he said with a smirk towards his glaring twin. "George gets that sort of thing all the time, isn't that right, Georgie?"

Claire turned from the fridge, holding three bottles of butterbeer in her hands, to eye a smirking Fred and a glowering George.

"What's he talking about, George?" she said, deciding to humor the mischievous twin and his antics.

George opened his mouth to answer, still glaring furiously at his twin, but Fred beat him to the punch, accepting the butterbeer she was offering him.

"A few second years showed up at the shop today and decided to try and slip him a love potion." he said with an amused grin. "Something or other about finding his battle scars attractive, wasn't it, George?"

Claire felt her lips twitch and tried to hide her smile behind the rim of her butterbeer bottle as George rolled his eyes and took a swig of his own.

"I don't really think a missing ear is all that attractive," he muttered.

"I beg to differ." She said earning herself a cocky grin and a wink that made her blush.

Fred groaned and threw his hands in the air melodramtically. "Why do I even bother visiting the two of you?"

"Because you love us, Freddie," Claire said as she turned to the stove and began plating the food and handing them to George to set on the table.

"Yeah and you feed him," George said in her ear as he passed her with the last bowl of stew. He smirked when she shivered in response and placed a kiss under her ear before taking a seat at the table next to his twin.

Dinner passed quickly and Fred was gone by the time Claire got out of the shower. Walking into the kitchen, she watched as George poured two glasses of wine and turned to her, holding one out to her in offering.

"You looked like you could use some," he responded to her raised eyebrows. She sighed, knowing now was as good a time as any to bring up her worries, though he'd heard them twenty times already.

Just as she was opening her mouth to rehash the conversation they had had only days before, there was a tapping on the kitchen window. Claire turned toward the noise and felt her heart skip at the sight of her best friend's small tawny owl, Freya.

Claire was across the room in seconds, opening the window and tearing open the letter that was attached to its leg. The four words her friend had scrawled on the slip of paper made her tense in anger and fear.

_He hurt me, Claire._

There was a terrible sinking feeling in her stomach as she read and reread the sentence, realising what exactly it was her friend was telling her.

It was all she needed to know.

-oOo-

**So that's it for this one, guys. I'm actually quite proud of myself for making such a long Prologue. Anyways, hope you enjoyed and feedback is welcome :)!**


	2. Chapter 1

**So, here's the next chapter for Forgive and Forget. My best friend has been nagging me(as usual) to post a chapter for one of my stories so here we go. Thanks for all of the reviews/follows/favorites to this story. They are very much appreciated.**

**Chapter 1**

**-oOo-**

Claire and Jenny had been planning her escape, as discreetly as possible when communicating by owl post, for a few weeks and they were relying quite heavily on not being caught.

Of course, the theory was much easier said than done. For one thing they'd had a difficult time navigating their way around Nathan's job. It was quite difficult to escape the man you were running from when he worked in the Department of Magical Transportation. From all of the times she'd heard him talk about his job, she knew they kept records of every single Apparation and Floo activation that a witch or wizard underwent once they reached legal age. Of course, those records weren't monitored physically, but recorded magically, and, according to wizard law, were only supposed to be viewed under the circumstances of suspicion by the Magical Law Enforcement or Minister of Magic. But, as Jenny had informed Claire, he had connections that would get him around the law without even a second thought.

With her mode of transportation extremely limited, they'd had to resort to Muggle means of travel, which were much more difficult and drawn out processes. Muggles had a tendency to rely heavily on schedule, which made things a lot more difficult for the two young women to work around. Whereas, apparating would get her there in a split second, she would have to find a new time frame that would work around Nathan's work schedule so that he was gone when she left. And that was made much more difficult by the fact that she needed the airline and bus station schedule to go relatively hand-in-hand the day she planned on flying into London.

Not to mention their incessant need to place cameras in every available corner. It was much easier to get around Muggle law than it was to get around Wizard law and if Nathan tried hard enough to get access to the tapes from the camera it would be much easier to find her.

The good thing about Muggles was their need for variety. They all had a particular bus company or airline they preferred which would make tracking her far harder because he would need to search every bus station and airline to find her.

While variety would help save for time, the amount of waiting she would have to endure standing in the airport waiting for her plane to board and then the nine hour plane ride to England would push the odds back in his favor.

And this was all under the assumption that he would even bother to retrace her steps and look for confirmation of her whereabouts. Because she was almost a hundred percent certain that he would know where she was headed without even having to check first. But she also knew that he had an obsessive tendency to see, for himself, the facts laid out before him.

The plan was one of the more risky ones Jenny had ever seen Claire come up with. It was their only chance to get her out of Nathan's grasp, however, and Claire was doing the best she could do, without breaking the law and drawing attention to the two of them. It was hardly a foolproof plan, and if Jenny were to get caught, things would get far worse for her than they were currently.

That thought was almost enough to make her back out of the plan entirely, but she knew better than to assume that things would get better for her even if she didn't go through with it. So she was going with her gut instinct to run.

As she looked around the sparse apartment one last time, she pushed all her worries aside. Logically, the odds were against her, but that didn't indicate that her means couldn't be achieved. She'd gone against worse odds in her life and she'd be damned if she couldn't achieve this. For once in her life she was going to do something solely for herself.

With one last cursory look around her apartment, she took a deep breath, grabbed her purse, and shut the door behind her with a firm click.

-oOo-

Roughly thirteen hours later, she was stepping off the plane into the London airport, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. It was almost surreal that she had made it here without incident, especially with the flight delay in Atlanta.

Despite knowing that she'd touched ground hundreds of thousands of miles away from her homestate she was not willing to let her guard down even for a second. He could be waiting anywhere in the airport looking for her, so she knew she had to get in and out as quickly as possible. She searched the terminal for the one person who she had no doubt would be standing just as anxiously as she was and found her standing alone along the outside of the seating area. Her friend looked up at exactly the same time and met her eyes, the anxiety evident in the blue depths.

She was shorter than anyone Jenny had ever met, coming only up to her shoulders at the height of 4'10", with unreasonably long, straight dirty blonde hair. Her eyes were so pale blue in color that they almost looked grey and her face was scattered with freckles. She'd always been pretty, though maybe in an unconventional way, considering her dislike for makeup and her atrocious eye for matching and style. But the one thing Jenny had always loved about her friend was her ability to always be herself, despite the conventional way of things.

Her friend seemed to be just as surprised to see her in person as she was because it was a moment before she came to her senses and rushed over to give her a hug. As her friend enveloped her in a tight hug, the subtly familiar scent of her sugar and vanilla perfume surrounded her. The familiarity of the smell almost had her breaking down in the airport, and, as the stinging began behind her eyes and throat, she tried to hold herself together and not give her vulnerability away to her friend. Claire had known her too long, though, because she pulled back seconds after and gave her an understanding smile, which made her tear up more.

Avoiding eye contact as best as possible, she studied her surroundings, much to her friend's amusement. Jenny could tell she was still worried though, and doing her best to hide it. She smiled slightly at the useless action.

"We should get going," Claire said, her voice just as soft as Jenny remembered it. "It'll take us awhile to drive back to the flat."

"Drive?" Jenny asked curiously, but followed her friend out of the airport without question, keeping up as best as she could. It was amazing how fast she could walk when she was so little.

"I know the American Ministry can't monitor your transportation once you set foot in London because its no longer their jurisdiction." Claire responded dismissively as she searched for her car in the parking lot. "I'm going to take the paranoid, cautious route and assume that if he has connections in America, he has connections in London too. Or at the very least that his connections have connections in London."

Jenny followed Claire to her car with a nod. She hadn't really thought that far ahead into the plan yet, which is mostly why Claire had taken on the roll of formulating most of it. She had always been better than her at being the cautious, logical one anyways.

"No offense, darling, because I'm sure your driving skills are superb, but I'm not entirely sure its a good idea for you to be driving in England considering the difference." Claire remarked laughingly, when Jenny walked over to the car.

"I don't want to drive-" She stopped abruptly, much to Claire's amusement, when she spotted the steering wheel. On the _passenger_ side of the car. "What the hell is this?"

"They drive on the opposite side of the road," Claire explained through her laughter. "Didn't you know that?"

"What in Merlin's name would make them want to drive on the opposite side of the road?" Jenny exclaimed in confusion, walking around to the other side of the car. "And why would I possibly know that?"

"We learned about that in history, Jenny. Mr. Lewis' class. When he did the whole fun facts about foreign countries lesson." she elaborated offhandedly, as she backed out of her parking spot. "And I don't know why they drive on the left. I've never bothered to ask."

Jenny snorted. "That was in like 4th grade, Claire. And no offense but I seem to recall that _you_ were the one that knew absolutely anything and everything there was to know about England because you were so obsessed with visiting."

Claire smiled fondly. "Once you have time to quit arguing with me and actually take in the city, you won't blame me for my so called..._obsession_."

Jenny rolled her eyes and did as instructed, looking out the car window and taking in her surroundings. At first, it took her a minute to get used to the driving. She watched in fascination for a good ten minutes as the cars passed her by; driving on the left side was far more interesting than driving on the right.

The lanes were smaller and the roads slightly more cramped than she was used to with the amount of people driving at this time of day, but there were just as many people walking and riding bikes as there were drivers. The cyclists raced by, almost as if they were attempting to race traffic and she was fascinated by the sheer amount of people occupying the city.

The road signs were different only slightly. The most confusing-to her at least-were the white zig zags along the side of the road. She pointed out the oddities to Claire, who explained they were places that drivers were prohibited to park in. The simultaneous yellow and red traffic light was another thing that confused her. According to Claire, it was used to give drivers a warning before the light turned green so there was no delay in proceeding.

Once she eventually got used to the differences in driving style, she was able to observe all of the other things about London and she had to admit that Claire may have been entirely justified in her fascination of the country.

The city was a mixture of both modern and old, almost as though the people here were showing the historical aspect of the country as much as its beauty. Jenny found the Victorian Gothic buildings the most captivating, with their large, tracery windows and ornate facades, but it was impossible not to appreciate all of the other historical buildings of the city as well. The historical aspect of the city was equally balanced out by the modernization of the other buildings, one of the most amazing to Jenny being the Gherkin. She'd heard of the building before and had always wanted to see it, and she was amazed by the beauty of it. The building was shaped like an egg with a glass facade in a swirling, striped pattern of darkish blue and clear glass with large, dramatic white X's at the entrance.

As they drove past, she wondered idly if the beauty and history of the city was ever taken for granted the same way she tended to take the scenery of her homestate for granted.

Eventually, they came to a stop, much to Jenny's surprise. She'd been so enraptured in her assessment of London, that she'd completely forgotten that she actually had an intended destination. Noting the smirk on her friend's face, she highly suspected that Claire had purposely driven by all of the buildings that she knew would have Jenny in awe.

Pursing her lips, Jenny said nothing, but Claire still had that look of triumph in her eyes. With a roll of her eyes, she gave her a pointed look, refusing to acknowledge that Claire might have been right about the city. Her friend didn't need any confirmation, however, if she went off the smug look that crossed her features. She said nothing, however, as they crossed the street and entered a pub that looked rather shabby.

"The Leaky Cauldron," Claire explained quickly, as they made their way through the dim and shabby interior towards the back of the pub. Her friend waved at the barman with a smile before continuing. "There's a passage in the back that leads to Diagon Alley. They have all the wizard shops back there when the kids need things for school and such."

"You live there?" Jenny asked curiously.

Claire gave her a cautious look before answering. "Well, no. George lives there, above his joke shop, and I live with him."

Jenny felt the panic rise in her at the thought of living with another man after she'd already left the grasp of one. She'd completely forgotten that her friend had been dating George Weasley. It had barely crossed her mind in her escape plan, but she pushed back the rising fear and hoped that she looked at least halfway composed. Judging by the sympathetic look on her friends face, it wasn't working.

"If you want, we can always find somewhere in Muggle London to stay." she said quietly. "I know I should've said something before now, but it completely escaped my mind."

Jenny hated the sympathetic look in her eyes; it made her want to break down and cry and that made her feel vulnerable. She absolutely hated feeling vulnerable, but at the moment, she knew that's exactly what she was and she hated having the proof right there in front of her. She couldn't blame her friend, though; she was a natural-born worrier and that was something that was completely out of her grasp. So she forced herself, against her better judgement, to shake her head.

"No, its fine." she said surprised by how even her tone was. "I'll be fine."

Claire studied her with an expression that clearly showcased her disbelief.

"Come on, then," Jenny urged with a false smile. "I'm kinda tired from all the plane rides and jet lag. Show me how we get to this magical alley of yours."

Claire watched her for a second in a way that made her want to squirm, but she firmly held her ground, despite knowing Claire would see through her facade anyway. Eventually, her friend turned with a frown and tapped one of the bricks on the wall. It opened up to reveal a bright alleyway that bustled with people shepherding their children down the cobblestone walkway and into shops of all different varieties.

Jenny momentarily forgot her unease as she studied all of the shops that she'd never seen before. They all sold relatively the same products as the magical shops in Salem, but she still found them fascinating to look at.

Jenny knew the instant they came to reach George Weasley's joke shop because it was one of the loudest, most vibrant shops in the entire alley. The shop made all of the others in Diagon Alley look measly and boring in comparison. The two front display windows were filled with an assortment of products that whizzed, popped, screamed, and banged. The display of outrageous sound and bright colors made her eyes water slightly, but Claire seemed to have gotten used to the displays because she walked right in without even a second glance.

The inside of the shop was so packed full with customers that she wouldn't have been able to push her way to the shelves to get a product no matter how hard she tried. She attempted to see what was on the shelves, but Claire kept moving across the shop and she was too afraid to lose her in the crowd, so she rushed forward and grabbed hold of her friend's wrist instead.

They'd barely made it ten feet when a male voice yelled through the shop, "Claire!"

Claire turned and the frown she was still wearing from her earlier conversation with Jenny instantly disappeared and was replaced by a grin, her eyes softening, as she spotted whoever was walking towards her. It took a minute for Jenny to see anyone walking towards them through the crowd of people that were pushing through the store, but the man that was striding toward them was a little difficult to miss. His hair was such a vibrant red color that it almost looked like fire, and it clashed so magnificently with his maroon robes that she had the sudden urge to close her eyes against the onslaught. She had no doubt that this was George Weasley, Claire's two year boyfriend, and, apparently, Jenny's new roommate.

He came to a stop in front of them, a wide grin split across his face as he regarded her best friend, with something akin to absolute adoration. The look in his eyes was mirrored in Claire's and the sight made her chest hurt. She'd always wanted a love like theirs.

She decided to focus on something else instead, so she gave him a cursory once over and decided that maybe that hadn't been a good idea either. Because now she was jealous of her best friend for an entirely different reason; the man was sexier than he was worth.

Jenny had never really been all that attracted to gingers, but this man was enough to change her mind. Built like an athlete, he had broad shoulders and a body that was lean with muscle and just short of being bulky. His hair was a vibrant red that he'd cut short, but hadn't bothered to comb that morning. The strands were messy, as though he'd been running his hands through the silky thickness in the few hours that he'd been awake. His face was scattered with freckles and his eyes were such a deep brown that it was almost like watching yourself drown in pools of milk chocolate. But the sexiest thing about him had to be the scar on the left side of his face. It was more the mangled remnants of an ear he'd obviously lost, more than an actual scar, but the point was still the same; men with battle scars were always incredibly attractive. And this man was no different. It gave him an edge(that she shouldn't even think was sexy considering her circumstances), made him look as though he wasn't afraid of a fight. Of course, with his charming grin and eyes that currently sparkled with both adoration and humor, the dangerous edge he'd obtained from his lost ear was denoted slightly. But there was nothing wrong with a man who knew how to have fun either. And he was tall, so tall in fact that he dwarfed her best friend in a way that was almost comical. At least 6'3", her tiny 4'10" frame barely came up to the bottom of his chest.

Claire's voice snapped her suddenly out of her reverie and she was suddenly glad that this man was taken because she _so_ did not need any more problems in her life right now.

"What on Earth did you do to your hair?" Claire's voice was angry, though the sparkle in her eye completely gave away her mood.

George grimaced and ran a hand through his already messy hair and mussing it up even more. "Mum is what happened," he said with a roll of his eyes. "She's been badgering Fred and me to let her cut it for ages, but we've managed to avoid it. Until the stormed into the flat this morning. Bloody crazy, she is," His tone was irritated but fond as he spoke of his mother, but that wasn't what had Jenny's eyes widening in surprise.

_Dear God, his accent..._

Along with her obsession with England, Claire had always been under the sound belief that English accents were one of the most attractive. And while Jenny couldn't deny the claim, she'd always found Russian accents far more appealing. But standing there and listening to him talk was something she thought she wouldn't mind doing for hours on end. Again, she sent up a silent thank you that he was already taken, by her best friend in particular.

"I was hoping," he continued, pulling Claire closer, his hands resting comfortably on her waist in a way that was unmistakably intimate. "that you would be so kind as to help me grow it back out since I know how much you like it long."

Claire tilted her head back to look at him, a stupid grin on her face as she regarded him fondly. "I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I kinda like the messy look."

George raised an eyebrow. "Is that right?" he murmured, lifting her off the ground, so she was forced to wrap her legs around his waist, and rested his forehead against hers. Jenny suddenly felt awkward standing there, like she was watching something that was meant to be private. "I'm not entirely sure you're right about that one, love."

_Love?_ Yep, she was locking herself in her room and never coming out because there was absolutely no way in hell she was risking running into any good looking man in this country if that was their chosen form of endearment.

"Oh?" Claire said, pulling back to run her fingers idly through his hair and smiling as he leaned into her touch.

"I have to show off this bloody ear all day." he explained. "Makes my bloody head look lopsided."

Jenny, who had already started to feel like she was listening in on a private and intimate conversation, hastily looked away when she saw the sympathetic look cross Claire's face and tried to find something with which to occupy her time until the couple was finished. But with all the people, she didn't find anything worth any interest.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of, George." Claire said, eyeing him sternly. "You lost your ear fighting for a good cause, so be proud of it. Besides, you don't look lopsided, but even if you did, I'd still think you were pretty attractive."

George grinned at her and planted a kiss on her lips. "Thank you, darling. I'm incredibly flattered."

Claire rolled her eyes and smacked his chest. "Sometimes I swear you play on your insecurities on purpose just so I'll make you feel better about yourself. Now put me down, Weasley, Jenny looks terribly awkward over there."

Jenny startled, when her name was mentioned, surprised that her friend had even remembered she was there to begin with. George, it seemed, had been just as aware of her presence as Claire had been and Jenny had the sudden sneaking suspicion that they had intentionally made her feel awkward just for the sake of doing so.

But the instant he focused all of his attention on her, Jenny clamped up. She heard her heart start pounding ferociously in her ears and felt the panic rise in her chest until she was wringing her hands in a way that made it obvious she was trying very hard not to flee. She took an instinctual step away from him, but if he noticed anything odd he didn't show any signs of his knowledge, which she was grateful for.

"George Weasley," he said, extending his hand with a playful grin, as he kept a loose arm around Claire's waist. "Absolutely spiffing to meet you, darling."

Jenny hesitated, even as she felt her body relax and her lips begin twitching. There was just something so...openly friendly about him that she couldn't ignore and she didn't think it was an act either. Cautiously, she reached for his hand and clasped his larger one in hers.

"Jennifer Daniels," she said quietly. "Jenny."

George opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off by a loud, booming voice echoing down from the balcony above them.

"George, will you quit accosting our employees and get your lazy arse up here! I don't pay you to stand around all day, you know!"

Jenny spun around to see who had shouted and felt her jaw drop at the grinning, amused face that appeared before her. She had to refrain from spinning back around to make sure George was still behind her.

She heard George yell back in response. "She's my girlfriend, you twat. I'll accost her as much as I bloody well please. And _I_ don't pay _you_ to breathe down my neck all day!"

His booming voice returned to normal as he regarded Jenny with a soft smile. "It was a right pleasure meeting you, Jenny, but I must be going. Pranks to pull, laws to break, that sort of thing. You know how it is these days."

He shook her hand one last time before turning to Claire and giving her a soft kiss, his fingers grazing across her cheek.

"I'll be in a little late tonight." he murmured. "So don't want up for me."

And with that he was gone, racing up the stairs to join his brother.

Apparently George Weasley had a twin. An _identical_ twin. And somehow Jenny knew that she wouldn't be lucky enough for his brother to be taken too.

_This is going to be a long year, _she thought.

-oOo-

**Now, I'd just like to say that I've only been to London once, and my descriptive skills are sorely lacking, so I know I hardly did the city any justice. The gist of the matter is, however, that England is absolutely amazing! I'm so jealous of all the people who live there. Ugh. You're all so lucky!**

**Anywho, Jenny is finally safe in England and has managed to meet George. Hmm...I wonder how she'll react to meeting Fred? **


End file.
